What is the question that Atticus asks Mayella repeatedly that gets no response?

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The chapter begins with Mr.Tate being testified in court and reveals he was 'fetched by Bob Ewell one night' who told him that 'some nigger'd raped his girl'. Mr Tate reveals that himself and Bob Ewell went back to the scene and found Mayella Ewell badly injured, lying on the floor and she confessed Tom Robinson had raped her. Information is released that neither Mr.Tate or Mr.Ewell called a doctor to the scene, and Atticus interrogates Mr.Tate about Mayella Ewell injuries, he struggles to gives a clear answer without hesitation to which side of Mayella's eyes was forming a black eye. Further he gives evidence the girl has bruising that went all around her neck. Mr.Tate's slightly boring interrogation - in Scout's eyes - finished as Bob Ewell was called up.

He appears to be very nervous, 'we saw that his face was as red as his neck' and in the narrative we see a brief description of Bob Ewell's life; his poor economic welfare, lack of education, poor health and destitute living space that was 'once a Negro cabin'. As the investigation begins, Bob Ewell identifies himself as the father of Mayella Ewell- with little uncertainty, revealing the death of her mother - and he reveals how he was in the woods kindling fire when he heard Mayella scream. He ran to her and sees, 'that black nigger (Tom Robinson) yonger ruttin' on my Mayella!'. This causes quite a stir in the courtroom, deeming as inappropriate, a request that women and children be cleared of witnessing the event is made and denied. After, Atticus asks for Bob Ewell to confirm he saw Tom Robbinson and Mayella having sexual intercourse (to which he Mr.Ewell confirmed) he was then asked again by Atticus whether he called a doctor and he further denied due to economic problems, saying it 'would have cost him five dollars'. Atticus asks Mr. Ewell to write his name on paper and reveals he is left handed, indicating Mr Ewell was the one responsible for beating up Mayella.

Key Analysis and Quotes (*page numbers specific to arrowbooks version)

• 'People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for, and they have the right to subject their children to it...' (pg.192) - This plays with the idea of justice and fairness, for if people were to 'see what they look for' and 'hear what they listen for' it would covert to their bias and hopeful version of events rather than the truth. The judge is possibly trying to address the prejudice of southern values, with people of believing what they wish to and hide from the reality.
• 'Mr. Ewell reminded me of a deaf mute. I was sure he never heard the words Judge Taylor directed at him (...) but their import registered on his face.' (pg.192) - This narrative shows the importance of the meaning of words rather than the complexity of them.
• 'Maycomb's Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin.' (pg.187) - The Ewells are a representation of a part of society that applies to every town, clear by the phrase 'Maycomb's Ewells' giving the impression the Ewells are owned by the town of Maycomb. The fact they are described to live behind a 'garbage dump' heighten this opinion of inferior, low-class poverty on equal levels with the connotations of garbage (leftovers, useless). The legacy of slavery is evident in the information their home was once a 'Negro cabin', emphasizing the poor conditions they live in to reside in a place of a race that was so prejudiced against in southern society.
• 'With his infinite capacity for calming turbulent seas, he could make a rape case as dry as a sermon' (page 186) - This provokes the idea the case is a game or entertainment form for Scout, and hints Atticus has a calming, reasonable and mellow approach to his duties as a lawyer much to the display of Scout who's seeking drama and excitement in this case. The reference to a sermon, is relatable to most readers as it is a service most people attend or similarly for other religions and the contrast between 'turbulent seas' which give chaotic imagery compared to a holy, calm event indicated the contrast between Atticus and his difficult, dramatic cases that vary completely in mood.

Context

• Class Distinctions - 'No economic fluctuations changed their status - people like the Ewells lived as guests of the country in prosperity as well as in the depths of a depression'. Ewells reputation famous representation of the severe different in class, being the most inferior purely by nature rather than just economic status. The fact they lived in what was described as a 'garbage dump' associates the Ewells respect and person with connotations of garbage (leftovers, useless).

Chapter 18

Summary

Mayella Ewell is being testified in court as soon as she is questioned by Mr Gilmer, she sits silently before bursting in tears and asks not to be testified by Atticus. She reveals she asked Tom Robinson to come inside her home to chop wood, a task her father gave her to undertake but she was feeling to weak, and then claims she was immediatley attacked by him. She fainted after being raped and fighting back screaming, next she awoke to Bob Ewell and Mr.Tate. Atticus begins to testify her, much to Mayella's disliking who protests against his politeness as he called her 'ma'am', he begins building up information of her home life - her age, school education, siblings and so forth. It is revealed the Ewell's relief cheque is not enough to feed the family and furthermore Bob Ewells drinking problem is exposed with Mayella hesitating towards whether he has ever abused her under the influence of alcohol, before this is further discussed the conversation turns back to the case of Tom Robinson. She struggles to answer Atticus's questions of the attack, unsure whether she remembers being hit by him or not and shortly afterwards Atticus asks Tom Robinson to stand up revealing his deformity and his shortened left limb. Mayella confirms she was chocked, hit then raped and then repeatedly refuses to answer Atticus's questions on why no one came to her while she was screaming, and she couldn't fight him off with her build - she becomes very emotional attacking the lawyers before bursting into tears once again and ending her testimony. The court-room take a break and the chapter ends with Atticus revealing he only has one witness.

Key Points & Analysis

• 'No answer' (page.207) is repeated five times in response to Atticus's questions. We see Mayella's ignorance and get the impression her version of events is barely a memory. It seems she is so caught up in emotion, she has become spellbound unable to speak further supported when Atticus finishes his testimony and 'Mayella's face was a mixture of terror and fury'. We are given the impression Mayella is unprepared and extremely uncomfortable in the scene, only put in this position by pressure of others.
• 'You makin' fun o' me agin, Mr.Finch?' (page 202) - Mayella seems to very protective over her pride and take things quite personally, she shows an evident disliking to Atticus and has poor social skills often misinterpreting conversations and misunderstanding tones of kindness with mockery. The dialect it is written shows the belittled education she has with broken language and unique idiolect and contrasts dramatically to the vocabulary spoken by the other members of the court.
• 'I wondered if anybody had ever called her 'ma'am' or 'Miss Mayella' in her life; probably not as she took offense at routine courtesy.' (page 201) - The text shows how distant Mayella's life and living conditions are from the rest of her society, her poverty translates to poor treatment and causes the audience to sympathize with her in this respect despite her dislikable family and often rude or broken/fragile manner. 'Routine courtesy' evokes the idea Mayella is somewhat removed from normality of routine life and is kept in a paradigm of her own, further alienating her interaction with the rest of the Maycomb society.

Context

• Racism - 'There were several niggas around', objectifies them.
• Role of women- 'there was no need for the rest of them to learn', in terms of education they had better skills rather than gain education. However, sexist values undermined when Mr. Ewell sets out jobs for Mayella that are quite laborious and often expected to be a 'mans job', such as chopping heavy wood.
• Class Distinctions - evident in the choice of written dialect and objection to politeness, misunderstanding social interaction and lack of education with poor living conditions that was relevant enough to be investigated in the testimony. 'it was anybody for themselves as far as keeping water went' - severe poverty.

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